Primary school children offered flu vaccination

Ben, a keen footballer and cricketer, had become ill on a Monday with "just a bit of a bug". Flu and problems from flu are serious and can be avoided. They are experiencing one of the worst flu outbreaks they've ever had. "It makes it very difficult to come up with hard data about what's going on".

Flu trackers watch what's happening on the other side of the world to figure out which flu strains to expect and what kind of flu season to brace for. It has put so much pressure on public hospitals that governments are paying private hospitals to treat the overflow.

In addition to the vaccine, we all play a role in a healthier community and that includes preventative measures such as coughing into your arm or sleeve, staying home if you're feeling ill and of course, washing your hands often with soap and warm water.

"Typically quote unquote the flu especially this time of year is its maybe a cold a severe cold, but its probably not influenza". Thankfully, this happens only occasionally. "It provides what we call herd immunity". Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.

'What we are seeing in Australia at the moment could easily transmit to the United Kingdom because of the ease of global travel and tourism, ' he adds. Flu is more likely to cause severe illness in pregnant women than in women who are not pregnant. But it appears to have performed poorly in Australia, possibly because the virus has mutated. Vaccine effectiveness varies from person to person.

But Professor Cheng admits: 'The vaccine does not look completely effective in all age groups. As a result, they get sick before the vaccine can do its job. Last year, only 13 percent of college-age residents between the ages of 18-24 were vaccinated in the state of MI. "With increase cases of flu during these months it's important to be vaccinated to protect yourself from the flu". According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the high-dose vaccine is designed specifically for those 65 or older and contains four times the amount of antigen than the regular shot. But there is some benefit'.

There have been more than 13,000 flu cases in Victoria over the past few months, including 95 deaths, many of which were at aged care facilities. Immune responses to targets other than HA's head, including HA's stem and a second viral surface protein, neuraminidase, receive scant attention.

WRAL Health Team's Dr. Allen Mask said to ask your health care provider what is best for you.

The study's authors, two of whom are CDC researchers, saw a big difference when they looked at women who had miscarried within 28 days of getting a shot that included protection against swine flu, but it was only when the women also had had a flu shot the previous season. Nonetheless, this is only if they had received the same vaccination the year before.

The severity is due in part to a lack of people getting their flu shots. Since 2009, patients in the US aged 65 and over have had access to a vaccine called Fluzone High-Dose, which has four times the strength of a regular flu jab.

Availability can not be used as an excuse for not getting vaccinated. The engineered vaccine offered more solid protection.

Under the programme, a free nasal flu vaccine will now be offered to all primary school children - which a year ago was only offered to children aged four to eight.